To Love and Cherish
by crematosis
Summary: Tony hates being pregnant. He feels fat, ugly, and uncomfortable all the time. But luckily, his alphas are there to remind him how beautiful and loved he is.


A/N: This is another fluff-filled mpreg story as therapy for me ^^

Disclaimer: General prompt given to me by kurohachi over on AO3, Avengers characters from Marvel.

Tony lifted up his shirt and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Six months ago, he had had glorious six-pack abs that he was proud to show off. And now his belly was swollen and ugly. He hated the stretch marks, the protruding belly button, the way his veins seemed to stand out against his taut skin. And it was so uncomfortable being this big. He couldn't see his feet anymore when he was standing, he had to pee every half hour, his back was killing him, he had heartburn no matter what he ate, and the maternity clothes in his size were all ugly pieces of crap.

He loved both of his alphas, but sometimes he hated them for ruining his body.

"Sir, Sergeant Barnes is approaching."

Tony hurriedly dropped his shirt down and smoothed it back over his belly.

Bucky came up behind him, sliding his arms around his waist. "You don't need to look in the mirror. You already know you're goddamn gorgeous."

Tony forced a smile. If only it was true.

Bucky rested his chin on Tony's shoulder and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Hey, we're going to go swimming in a bit. Want to come join us?"

"I'll pass."

Why would he want to get into swim trunks and put his fat stomach on display for the world? Hell no. He was doing everyone's eyes a favor. Nobody would want to see all the ugly veins and stretch marks, especially next to the two living embodiments of perfection.

In the mirror, Bucky raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Stevie said a swim would probably feel nice. Get some of that weight off your feet."

"I already said no," Tony said. He pushed Bucky off him and walked out of the bathroom.

Bucky followed after him. "We're not trying to force you if you don't feel like it. Just something you might want to try sometime."

Tony made a noncommittal noise and headed for the couch in the den. God, he hated how much effort it took to walk just the few feet down the hall.

"Well, okay," Bucky said. "You know where we'll be if you change your mind."

"Uh-huh," Tony said. He eased himself down onto the couch and reached for his tablet. It was too much of a strain on his body to keep going down to the lab everyday, but at least he could still keep on top of his design work from where he sat.

After a few minutes, Tony had Jarvis pull up footage from the pool and he watched wistfully as the two super soldiers splashed around in the water. God, they looked gorgeous. And a couple months ago, he had looked just like them.

Okay, who was he kidding? His body had never looked that perfect. But at least he hadn't been ugly back then.

"Shut it off," Tony said. He couldn't bear to look at them anymore.

He buried himself back in his work.

He was still hard at work when Bucky and Steve came up from the pool in a new change of clothes, hair still wet from the post-swim shower. He eyed them enviously and then dropped his gaze back to his tablet.

"I'm fucking famished," Bucky announced to the room. "Come on, Tony, let's have some lunch."

Reluctantly, Tony rose from the couch. Now that Bucky mentioned food, his stomach was starting to growl.

Steve rummaged around in the fridge and began passing sandwich fixings to Bucky to set on the counter.

"I know we still have bacon in there somewhere," Bucky said. "You want a BLT, right, Tony?"

Tony was pretty fond of bacon on his sandwiches, but he couldn't afford to eat it anymore. He didn't want to gain any more weight than he had to.

"No bacon for me," he said.

Steve froze halfway into the act of handing Bucky the package of bacon.

"You're kidding," Bucky said. "You love the stuff."

"Not today," Tony said.

"Take his word for it, Buck," Steve advised. "Only he knows what tastes and scents will bother him at certain times. Pregnancy is weird that way."

"My bad," Bucky said. He pulled Tony into a brief embrace. "Didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset," Tony said.

Bucky held him out at arm's length with an expression that clearly said he wasn't buying it, but he didn't call him on it.

Tony started making himself a sandwich with plenty of lettuce and tomato, leftover grilled chicken, relish, and a slice of provolone cheese. The sandwich was a little dry without mayonnaise, but mayo was like bacon. Just empty, fatty calories.

After lunch, Steve and Bucky tried to convince him to come for a short walk with them. And Tony understood, he really did. He needed the exercise of he was really going to be a whale. But his feet hurt and his back ached and just the thought of being seen in public in his state made him want to hide in the lab and never come out.

Tony finally let them talk him into going down to the gym with them because they weren't going to leave him alone unless he agreed to some kind of exercise. But he only managed some easy stretches and a few minutes on the treadmill before he felt worn out. And Bucky and Steve were just starting their workouts.

He retreated back upstairs, knowing they would never miss him once they really got into the zone.

They reappeared an hour later to grab water bottles out of the fridge. Steve padded into the den and kissed Tony's forehead. "Always working so hard. The company should give you maternity leave. Let you take a nice long break to rest and relax, spend time some time with the babies after the birth."

"Ha," Tony said. "The company would fall apart if I left." Pepper was great at keeping the business side working, but he was pretty much the only one capable of making new products. And without new products, where would the company be?

"They'll make do," Bucky said. "You can't exactly be on your tablet while you're in labor."

He was pretty sure he could, but Steve would be very disappointed in him.

"I'll be back in a bit," he mumbled as he got up from the couch. "Got to do something real quick."

What he was going to do was get away from his alphas. Maybe if he slept long enough, it would all be a horrible dream.

He felt the bed dip as Steve sat down beside him and the blankets were gently pulled back. "Honey, is something wrong? You don't usually take naps."

"I'm just tired," Tony said. "Pregnancy is exhausting."

Steve stroked his hair. "Are you sure that's all it is? Because Jarvis said you've been feeling a little down lately."

"Oh, did he now?" Tony looked accusingly up at the ceiling.

"You remember what we discussed, don't you, Sir? About asking for help when you need it?"

"I don't need help," Tony spat. "Go be perfect somewhere else."

"Can you please tell us what's wrong?"

Tony turned to glare at Bucky on the other side of the bed. "Oh, you want to know what's wrong? My feet hurts, my back hurts, my hips hurt. And I've got stupid stretch marks all over me. Those things don't go away, you know."

"Are you really worried about a few stretch marks?" Bucky said with a snort. "Look at all these other scars."

Before Tony could protest, Bucky pulled his shirt all the way up to his neck. "This one," he said, pointing to a thin pink line right below Tony's belly button, "is from the time that giant mechanical scorpion stabbed all the way through your armor and Steve was crying the entire week you were in the hospital because he thought you were going to die." Bucky's finger moved up Tony's abdomen. "And here's a burn mark from when the Light Knight zapped you with that energy beam. And all these little mark from that bomb that exploded and turned your armor into shrapnel." Bucky's hand end up splayed across his chest. "And this scar tissue is from the arc reactor. Which you got because you were almost blown up in Afghanistan."

Bucky's hand went back down to Tony's stomach and he traced a thumb over one of the darker stretch marks. "I'd love to see marks on you that mean something positive."

Tony sucked in a breath. He had never thought of it like that.

"And we can do something about all the aches and pains," Steve said. "Buck, get the water going."

Bucky nodded and backed out of the room.

"What?" Tony said. "What's happening?"

"You'll see," Steve said with a smile. He pressed kisses down Tony's jaw. "You're beautiful, you know that? With or without stretch marks. Don't you ever forget that."

"Mm," Tony said, tilting his head back so Steve could kiss down his neck.

"And you need to talk to us when you're hurting. We love you and want to take care of you, so just let us know. You're doing all the hard work carrying our babies and we want to make it as easy on you as possible."

Bucky reappeared in the doorway. "It's ready."

"Good," Steve said. He shifted on the bed to scoop Tony into his arms. "You're going to love this, babe. It'll make you feel so much better."

Tony was a little confused when Steve headed for the bathroom, but then his eyes lit up as he saw the bathtub full of warm, soapy water. A long soak in the tub sounded really good right about now.

Steve set him down on the edge of the tub. "Tell me if the water's too warm."

Tony stuck out a toe to test the water. "It's perfect," he said. He eased himself down into the tub until only his belly button was visible above the bubbles.

"Feeling better already, aren't you?" Bucky said. He ran his fingers through Tony's hair and made gentle massaging motions against his scalp.

"Mm," Tony said, letting his eyes drift shut. It felt so good to have them taking care of him, scrubbing his skin, shampooing his hair.

He blinked his eyes open, surprised to find himself back in bed, in a pair of loose pajamas and the red bathrobe Steve had given him for Christmas. And Steve and Bucky were settled on either side of him, quietly reading parenting books.

He shifted a little, trying to find a more comfortable position in bed.

Steve smiled at him over the top of his book. "Feel better now?"

"Yes," Tony said. He nuzzled against Steve's hand. "I love you."

Bucky reached over to rub his back. "Anything else we can do for you?"

Tony shrugged. "Make male maternity clothes that aren't plaid or ugly patterns that make me look like a couch cushion?"

Bucky and Steve shared a look. "I think we can make something happen," Steve said.

Tony stared. "You two can sew?"

"Of course we can. Back in the day, just about everybody could. Fabric was expensive. We all learned to patch holes in our shirts, let out seams when we need bigger sizes, repurpose old winter clothes into new summer outfits. You pick out the fabric, and we'll make something to fit you."

Tony reached up to kiss each of them. "You're amazing. You know that?"

"Anything for you, babe. All you had to do was ask."


End file.
